Posted on 04/28/2018 10:54:14 AM PDT by John Semmens
Despite the appearance of numerous witnesses and statistics indicating that FaceBook, Google, and Twitter use algorithms that have diverted traffic away from conservative voices, Democrats at the House Judiciary Committee hearing examining the "Filtering Practices of Social Media Platforms" asserted that it's a "hoax" and that "it is a legitimate business practice to prevent unauthorized use of the media for politically unacceptable purposes."
Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) argued that "hiding the posts and texts of persons expressing incorrect views is not censorship. The posts are still in the system. Conservatives have not been blocked from having their say. For Republicans to raise this non-issue is a hoax to distract from the very real crimes committed by Donald Trump—first to collude with Russia to seize power from the eminently more qualified Democratic candidate and second, his refusal to resign after his nefarious scheme was exposed by the heroic actions of FBI Director James Comey, Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, and now special counsel Robert Mueller."
Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif) called the Republican complaints "stupid and ridiculous. The First Amendment guarantees these media outlets the right to censor the content as they see fit. The government has no legitimate cause to pry into why or how they do this. In fact, even publicly raising the issue, as is being done in this hearing, is an attempt at intimidation. Exposing this completely legal censorship to open scrutiny could reduce traffic on these sites and cut into their profits. That is an abuse that should not be tolerated."
Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA) mocked witnesses "Diamond" and "Silk," two pro-Trump posters, for "your gall in saying you've been treated unfair. Before social media existed no one ever would have heard of you two nobodies. Now, just because FaceBook tried to limit your abuse of their platform you've got a beef? You say that Black Lives Matter gets a better deal. Well, maybe they have a message that needs to be heard. Trump's a billionaire, why don't you get him to pay you to push his agenda?"
Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn), herself a victim of Twitter blocking her pro-life campaign tweet last year, challenged the notion that "censorship of one side of political debates is okay. These businesses advertise themselves as a way for all people to communicate. For them to subsequently, and often covertly, impede access for views the corporate honchos dislike is a deceptive business practice. The hypocrisy of my Democratic colleagues who have no qualms about having the government forcibly take money from taxpayers in order to fund abortions they oppose for moral and religious reasons as a defense of these deceptive businesses is stunning."
In related news, Breitbart News reporter Warner Todd Huston had his Twitter account suspended after he tweeted his opinion that transgender people suffer from mental illness. Jack Dorsey, co-founder and CEO of Twitter, explained "not all opinions are worthy of being heard. As the inventor and owner of Twitter it is my prerogative to decide which opinions will be permitted on my platform. If people like Mr. Huston think they can defy me with impunity they are the ones suffering from mental illness."
if you missed any of this week's other semi-news/semi-satire posts you can find them at...
http://www.gopbriefingroom.com/index.php?topic=313936.0
What ever Dems insist the opposite is being done.
LOL!
Look
They know the gig is up
And it’s freaking them out
People DONT like to be lied to
They also don’t like people who demean others
And unfortunately for them
Fortunately for us
That’s all they really have
Demonized the opposition
That dog won’t hunt no mo
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